145. Crowley is passive-aggressively occupying a 3rd party spot on the ballot

"The Queens County Democratic leaders are the masters of electoral manipulation,Lipton said. "There's a well-known process for [re]moving candidates from the ballot and they are refusing to show the WFP and Ocasio-Cortez that respect."

Even in Ms. Ocasio-Cortez’s district, the Working Families Party line was won by Mr. Crowley, who had secured that party’s endorsement. Bill Lipton, state director of the Working Families Party, said he immediately reached out to Mr. Crowley’s campaign to request that he vacate the line.

To Mr. Lipton’s chagrin, his campaign declined; Mr. Crowley will remain on the ballot in November. “You’d think that given the moment we’re in,” said Mr. Lipton, “that Democratic leaders would want to help progressive forces to unite.”

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez toppled a political giant last month, but he’s popped right back up onto the ballot.

Though Ms. Ocasio-Cortez defeated Joseph Crowley, a leading House Democrat, in a congressional primary that sent shock waves through the party, Mr. Crowley’s name will almost certainly appear on the ballot in November under a third-party line. That’s thanks to a quirk in New York State’s election laws, an embarrassingly retrograde system that protects incumbents by confusing voters and suppressing turnout.

WFP state director Bill Lipton said Crowley refused to vacate the line he won in New York’s 14th Congressional District.

"It is disappointing that Crowley has refused to vacate the Working Families Party ballot line. He chose not to show Ocasio-Cortez and the WFP respect by allowing us to put Ocasio-Cortez on our ballot line," Lipton said in a statement to The Hill.

"WFP is giving all we have to electing Ocasio-Cortez and other progressive insurgents all across the nation," he added. "The only remaining way for Crowley to do the right thing is to switch his residency to Virginia, where his family resides and his children already go to school. It would fix the problem he created in an instant."

174. He could get off the ballot easily but chooses not to.

WFP state director Bill Lipton said Crowley refused to vacate the line he won in New York’s 14th Congressional District.

"It is disappointing that Crowley has refused to vacate the Working Families Party ballot line. He chose not to show Ocasio-Cortez and the WFP respect by allowing us to put Ocasio-Cortez on our ballot line," Lipton said in a statement to The Hill.

"WFP is giving all we have to electing Ocasio-Cortez and other progressive insurgents all across the nation," he added. "The only remaining way for Crowley to do the right thing is to switch his residency to Virginia, where his family resides and his children already go to school. It would fix the problem he created in an instant."

19. Like most adults

He lost, moved on and forgot about the multiple third parties that will put the same people on the ballot. Same is true in many districts including a neighboring district where Cortez was on the Reform Party line. But we’re going to ignore that, aren’t we?

Our Revolution types and their allies never cease to amaze me in the ways they take a nothing and turn it into a threat against We The People.

133. Sorry, I don't know who is avoiding whose phone call.

She says it was set up 3x and he didn't show each time.

But he should just take his name off the ballot as the WFP nominee (by running for another low level office per the rules). As long as he refuses to do that, nobody can honestly say that he is behind her. Fer chrissakes, he's running against her.

148. Just how do you define "running against her"

if not being on the ballot, for the same position Rep NY-14, in November?

Yes, he can take his name off the ballot, by running for another position, say dog catcher in a heavily repub area, and yes, there are many positions that don't require residency (per the article I linked to).

She has tweeted that she set up a convo 3x and he never showed all 3x. He hasn't conceeded to her personally yet.

He needs to get himself off the ballot. It's not hard, there's no election fraud. He's just making excuses.

198. He has tried a few times, for some reason they never connected. It's not his duty to continue...

...to try, she's the candidate.

This is like a couple of weeks ago when she was blaming Gilibrand (again, on twitter) for not talking to her before Gilibrand endorsed Crowley. It's the job of the candidate to contact potential endorsers.

And if journalists interview Mr. Trent they may want to ask him why Brand New Congress is running a former Republican, relatively recently minted independent against the Democratic candidate for Congress in Tennessee's 2nd district.

59. Have you seen this New York Law, mcar?

By law, the only way a candidate can get off a line is to move out of New York, die, be convicted of a crime or accept a nomination for another office.

“I don’t plan on moving out of New York, have a clean record, hope God’s will is that I don’t die, and won’t commit what I honestly believe to be election fraud” by accepting a nomination for another office in a place he doesn’t live, Crowley tweeted.

137. law, the only way a candidate can get off a line is to move out of New York, die,

By .. be convicted of a crime or accept a nomination for another office.

“I don’t plan on moving out of New York, have a clean record, hope God’s will is that I don’t die, and won’t commit what I honestly believe to be election fraud” by accepting a nomination for another office in a place he doesn’t live, Crowley tweeted.

172. AOC has good reason to be frustrated.

1) he never conceded.
2) her campaign set up a call 3x, and 3x he never showed.
3) he's still on the ballot for November, running against her. He could easily fix this by either changing his address (he's actually living in Virginia), or running for some other position (apparently done a lot in NY).

190. Where is this stuff coming from?

It's not like he can simply withdraw his name from the ballot. What he can do is endorse her (he has) and help her get elected. The latter is up to her now.

--------

If she's smart here, she'll say her outburst was a mistake and make time for a public appearance ASAP with Crowley. Assuming he'll agree now, she was pretty rude to him. His people are about to be her people and her future depends on not alienating them.

Her constituency know the byzantine election laws there and they're not going to buy this wholesale the way random people on the internet without their local knowledge will.

I'm going to point out, those random people on the internet are not who she needs to be pandering to here. They're not who she's hoping to represent next January. Her 15,897 votes came from the people in her district. If she wants to expand on that number, she better get back to them. The primary is over. With it (since she's in a safe Democratic district) the time for grandstanding, drama and attention seeking has ended. Now she should be connecting with her voters and future voters and bringing them all home. Angering the supporters of her previous Democratic opponent isn't how you do that. Even in a safe district that's a terrible strategy.

Now is when she has to begin proving who she really is to her voters, and potential future voters, by showing she's not a bunch of empty rhetoric. This was a rookie mistake. There's a learning curve, but she has time to figure it all out if she can temper her emotions.

162. Die, move, commit a crime or election fraud?

I thought so too, but lies, attacks against the party and dirty shenanigans to provoke drama to increase the money grab is what's happening here on twitter. Why is this deeply unethical crap being done by the new star of the party?

106. Not particularly smart, either

134. +1, which is odd, because she seemed to be very conversant in

how NY elections work when she won, as evidenced by her many public appearances where she discussed in detail the idiosyncrasies of how her district operated. I bet your hunch is right -- especially with those she said she had to consult first.

60. So silly

People say things all the time for example "does he think he's a brain surgeon?" or "does she think she is a princess?" do you think they really mean to question if someone is a brain surgeon or a princess, or are they using hyperbole to make a point? I've made mine and it appears you just have to have to last word. There will never be a Q&A with you, I do not debate with...... fill in the blank as you are so SMART.

72. Damn straight, brer... she was fanning Flames

over Nothing.

By law, the only way a candidate can get off a line is to move out of New York, die, be convicted of a crime or accept a nomination for another office.

“I don’t plan on moving out of New York, have a clean record, hope God’s will is that I don’t die, and won’t commit what I honestly believe to be election fraud” by accepting a nomination for another office in a place he doesn’t live, Crowley tweeted.

26. Yeah, she does.. but she/team has an Experienced

18. According to the NYT, there's a quirk in the system.

Asked about Mr. Crowley’s plans regarding the Working Families Party line, a campaign spokeswoman said only: “Joe Crowley is a Democrat. He’s made clear he is not running for Congress and supports the Democratic nominee in NY-14.”

In Mr. Crowley’s case, vacating the line is not that simple. The Working Families Party must go through a convoluted legal maneuver, essentially nominating the unwanted primary winner for another electoral position on the ballot — often one that he or she has little chance of winning, like a county clerkship in a region of the state dominated by the other party.

I'm not sure what AOC's team expects Crowley to do at this point, other than falling on his sword by allowing his name to be put on the ballot for a lesser office in an outside region for an election that he will certainly lose.

135. It is worrisome, but it actually doesn't surprise me based on some key

24. But if he's going to lose both elections anyway....

....then why WOULDN'T he just have them put his name on the ballot for one that won't confuse Democratic voters or stand the chance of draining votes from the person who actually won the Democratic primary?

Unless he thinks there's a chance he won't lose if his name is on the Working Families Party.

32. If you read the above paragraph

37. Perhaps Crowley wants to keep his options open for running in future elections.

Given the press's fondness for spinning narratives, losing a lesser-office election after having lost the primary might be fatal to any future chances.

Asked about Mr. Crowley’s plans regarding the Working Families Party line, a campaign spokeswoman said only: “Joe Crowley is a Democrat. He’s made clear he is not running for Congress and supports the Democratic nominee in NY-14.”

191. No that is not true.

He could run for a different office and that would vacate his spot on a he WPP ticket. It is a simple maneuver, and has been used in the past for similar situations.

“The party wanted to put her on its line in November, and had asked Mr. Crowley to vacate the line by running for another office that he had no intention of occupying and little chance of winning, whether a county clerkship or state legislative post. But Mr. Lipton said the Crowley campaign declined to work with them on the maneuver.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/12/nyregion/ocasio-cortez-crowley-twitter.html

85. The party put his name on their line because they align with democrats and expected him to win

the democratic primary. He won their primary, so his name stayed up. Cortez' people should get in touch with his office, maybe a couple campaign effects with the two of them side by side with him supporting her will clear up the situation.

151. He could win...this was a very low turnout primary...I have no idea what will happen.

65. Have you seen this New York Law, lapucelle?

By law, the only way a candidate can get off a line is to move out of New York, die, be convicted of a crime or accept a nomination for another office.

“I don’t plan on moving out of New York, have a clean record, hope God’s will is that I don’t die, and won’t commit what I honestly believe to be election fraud” by accepting a nomination for another office in a place he doesn’t live, Crowley tweeted.

74. Thank you for that link.

Joe Crowley has been remarkably gracious since his defeat. If his only options are to die, to move away, to hammer the final in the coffin of any chance at elected office in the future, or to make it clear that he is not running for Congress and supports the Democratic nominee in NY-14, I'm glad that he's chosen the last option.

Seriously what kind of piece of work do you have to be to bash other Democrats over an obscure ass rule that puts them on the ballot?

They want this guy to move out of his home state for the past 20+ years and move to VA so he gets removed from the ballot. They actually think this is a totally reasonable request. This is pure ass bullshit cronyism.

15. He won't vacate the Working Families line

20. According to the NYT

In Mr. Crowley’s case, vacating the line is not that simple. The Working Families Party must go through a convoluted legal maneuver, essentially nominating the unwanted primary winner for another electoral position on the ballot — often one that he or she has little chance of winning, like a county clerkship in a region of the state dominated by the other party.

39. Thanks again, lapucelle..

In Mr. Crowley’s case, vacating the line is not that simple. The Working Families Party must go through a convoluted legal maneuver, essentially nominating the unwanted primary winner for another electoral position on the ballot — often one that he or she has little chance of winning, like a county clerkship in a region of the state dominated by the other party.

16. Is this really necessary? That race is over. Run against the repug.

22. The Democratic Party must be furious that there will be a third party candidate on the ballot...

I mean that has the potential to drain votes from the actual Democratic nominee and to confuse voters.

I'm sure they will do everything in their power to prevent this from happening because their goal is to support the Democratic nominee and do everything in their power to insure that the Democratic nominee wins.

63. Except he's been clear that there is no third party run.

25. Let me explain New York

A candidate may be nominated by military third parties without their prior knowledge. Candidates who lose their major party primaries don’t think to have their names removed and I imagine the same goes for Crowley. Cortez never acknowledged her write-in nomination for the Reform Party in a neighboring districts.

38. .

By law, the only way a candidate can get off a line is to move out of New York, die, be convicted of a crime or accept a nomination for another office.

“I don’t plan on moving out of New York, have a clean record, hope God’s will is that I don’t die, and won’t commit what I honestly believe to be election fraud” by accepting a nomination for another office in a place he doesn’t live, Crowley tweeted.

42. Wow.. that's damn complicated.. and not everyone is going

to know this.. so they'll just be pissed at JC. Thanks, RSF.. I'll pass this on if needed.

By law, the only way a candidate can get off a line is to move out of New York, die, be convicted of a crime or accept a nomination for another office.

“I don’t plan on moving out of New York, have a clean record, hope God’s will is that I don’t die, and won’t commit what I honestly believe to be election fraud” by accepting a nomination for another office in a place he doesn’t live, Crowley tweeted.

45. You forgot to include this passage

Working Families Party state director Bill Lipton couldn’t be immediately reached for comment Thursday morning, but told the New York Times he was rebuffed when he asked Crowley to give up the line in favor of Ocasio-Cortez.

57. I'll let him answer:

61. Sounds like he's making excuses

Per the Daily News article:

Working Families Party state director Bill Lipton couldn’t be immediately reached for comment Thursday morning, but told the New York Times he was rebuffed when he asked Crowley to give up the line in favor of Ocasio-Cortez.

104. It also states

Bill Lipton, state director of the Working Families Party, said he immediately reached out to Mr. Crowley’s campaign to request that he vacate the line.

To Mr. Lipton’s chagrin, his campaign declined; Mr. Crowley will remain on the ballot in November.

And

The Working Families Party must go through a convoluted legal maneuver, essentially nominating the unwanted primary winner for another electoral position on the ballot — often one that he or she has little chance of winning, like a county clerkship in a region of the state dominated by the other party.

108. It only sounds like that because he's being smeared

No one is smearing any other candidate that the very same thing will happen to, nor have they smeared them in the past. This is utter bullshit. She is either very naive or she went to the Karl Rove school of politics. Either way, it doesn't look good.

111. He isn't pretending. It's a fact.

He can't simply be taken off the ballot. They would have to nominate him for another position. It isn't "playing games" to refuse to agree to such sham workarounds. The obvious solution would be to get rid of this ridiculous law, but until then parties will have to live with the fact that whoever they nominate will stay on the ballot. There is no mounting of a third party challenge here. That is a lie.

142. Thanks for the latest tweet, Blue_Tires

31. Sigh, I was charmed by her on election night, but if this is how she responds to a quirk in

state election law then she's really not going to get far in Washington.

Crowley would probably have an outright to close win with a high turnout election in his district (in 2016 170k voted in the general, 147k for him while only 27k voted in the primary) so I really don't see why her campaign is being as acidic when he feasibly holds a lot of power her. A Crowley 3rd party bid would be a disaster for her. Might be best not to blow this story up more than it has. A divide along lines similar to the last primary would be devasting.

88. She is more than a bartender.

She took on a second job bar tending to help her mom avoid losing the mom's home to foreclosure after her dad died of cancer. Her day job is teaching in early childhood education and she moonlighted as a community organizer.

49. But Crowley said he isn't running?

Asked about Mr. Crowley’s plans regarding the Working Families Party line, a campaign spokeswoman said only: “Joe Crowley is a Democrat. He’s made clear he is not running for Congress and supports the Democratic nominee in NY-14.”

In Mr. Crowley’s case, vacating the line is not that simple. The Working Families Party must go through a convoluted legal maneuver, essentially nominating the unwanted primary winner for another electoral position on the ballot — often one that he or she has little chance of winning, like a county clerkship in a region of the state dominated by the other party.

80. Two points

By law, the only way a candidate can get off a line is to move out of New York, die, be convicted of a crime or accept a nomination for another office.

“I don’t plan on moving out of New York, have a clean record, hope God’s will is that I don’t die, and won’t commit what I honestly believe to be election fraud” by accepting a nomination for another office in a place he doesn’t live, Crowley tweeted.

89. Not true

In the case of a write-in victory, a candidate can accept or decline the nomination. If the candidate declines, the party is free to nominate someone else; if the candidate accepts, the party is stuck.

186. Yes because tweets by anonymous people are so reliable.

This is Democratic Underground. We should be supporting the Democratic nominee chosen by Democratic voters, not making excuses for someone who’s running on a third party with the potential to split the vote in November.

194. In the interest of party unity, I hope AOC endorses the Democratic

In addition, her spokesman Corbin Trent needs to start honing the message.

Theo: What is your relationship to the Democratic Party?

Corbin: Myself, personally? I have no relationship whatsoever. The organization [Brand New Congress] has very little. We intend to run within their structures, and in their primaries, and we’re thankful that they’ve set up an infrastructure that’s going to allow candidates to run in primaries. But we think that the party has—a long time ago—stopped representing the needs of the American people.

90. Is he mounting a third party challenge? If so, I agree with Ms. Ocasio-Cortez.

A third party challenge is why we have Trump in the White House. In Maine, the Democratic loser for governor in the primary ran a third party race and that's why they have crazy Paul LePage in office. When Dems pout and run anyway, they give the election to the Republicans.

95. Well said nt

114. The evidence is, he is doing everything he can legally do. He's not campaigning. If he was really

mounting a 3rd party run and hoped to have any shot or any effect on the race, he would have a ton of work to do and it would be obvious.

He's not doing that. This makes it clear he isn't running and therefore it adds much more weight to his arguments that he cannot legally get off the ballot. The method that Working Families has given him involves claiming he is running in a race to which he is not running. There is another word for that, "Election Fraud"

144. It is indeed the ultimate irony that they are now concerned with

"third party" challenges. That's exactly right. The whole ethos of their short-lived organization is to challenge anyone anywhere, hence her challenge to a safe seat Democrat. It's absurd to now see how offended they are over virtually nothing.

143. All of your hatred for Jill Stein and Susan Sarandon yet you're doing the same thing to Ocasio

This is addressed to all posters, not specifically the OP:

What Working Families is asking Crowley to do is NOT ILLEGAL. Stop justifying your duplicity. It is merely a graceful way of avoiding siphoning votes from Ocasio-Cortez. Seeing what happened to Hillary, Crowley needs to avoid splitting the vote at all costs. As a good Democrat, Crowley needs to bow to the people's choice and do everything he can to support the DEMOCRAT the district chose to challenge the Republican.

If you were opposed to Sarandon and Stein actions in 2016 you can't be in favor of Crowley staying on the ballot to muddy the waters!

153. Who was going to hold her to the same standard?

Crowley had said in a debate on NY1 before the June 26 primary that he would back Ocasio-Cortez if she won.

“I’m willing to make the pledge tonight that if you win this primary and have the support of the people of the 14th Congressional District, that I will fully endorse, work for your, and vociferously and robustly work for your election to Congress,” he said at the time.

Crowley asked Ocasio-Cortez to make a similar pledge, and she said she would have to consult her supporters before answering.

“I represent not just my campaign, but a movement,” she said at the debate. “We govern ourselves democratically. So I would be happy to take that question to a vote and respond in the affirmative or however they respond.”

154. It's borderline-illegal and highly unethical,

and Crowley who is a respected long-time member of Congress is not going to do that, especially in a strong blue district. Also he's not that old and can run for another office, it could hurt his future career plans.

The NYS law should be changed, it isn't Crowley's fault.

Why should he stick his neck out for her anyway, she's a Berniecrat who viciously demonized him.

She should just be happy he isn't really running 3rd party, because he would likely defeat her with a much larger voting pool.. she won mostly due to low turnout that is dominated by activists.

192. There are several threads on this topic.

I've read them all before commenting.

The citizens of this District NY-14 have chosen their Democrat to represent them in the general. All Democrats should get behind the Democratic candidate at the ballot box, minimum. To repeat a former comment I made, "I will vote for the Progressive candidate in the primary and the winner in the general.

200. Pretty obvious that Crowley is ratfucking Ocasio-Cortez.

Ocasio-Cortez fairly beat Crowley in the Democratic primary.

Crowley as the loser of the primary but experienced Democratic party member should be helping Ocasio-Cortez in every way possible, avoiding any statements or actions that would divide the party in the general election. All Crowley needs to do is to clearly stand down and avoid any issues.

Ocasio-Crowley is starting to appear as a case where some Democrats can willfully harm her candidacy.